Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Redos and Retakes

One of the seminal moments in my life as an educator
occurred about fifteen years ago when my school’s administration required
teachers to practice mastery teaching with an emphasis on allowing redos and
retakes.

Of course, the teacher’s lounge was abuzz with questions and
critiques of the new policy. Redos and retakes took the brunt of the criticism.

Today, I’m an unabashed believer in retakes and redos; my
“answers” to the more common criticisms follow.

Over the years, I’ve become more comfortable with redos and
retakes thanks to my own experiences, my colleagues, and, in particular, the
writings of Rick Wormeli and Ken O’Connor.

Complaint 1: Students
need to be held accountable

I agree, students must be held accountable for learning. So which policy holds students to a higher
standard? One in which we allow students to fail or skim by with a D or one in
which we use redos and retakes to ensure student mastery?

Students need multiple chances to grow and learn. Each
teacher’s goal should be for ALL students to master the essential learnings.

The research of Carol Dweck shows that if we teach students
that their intelligence can increase, they will do better in school. In her
ground breaking book Mindset, Dweck
speaks of the benefits of a growth mindset, meaning that people believe that
they can improve their abilities by dedication and hard work. As teachers, we
must ensure students view failure as part of the natural learning process and
an opportunity to improve. The long-term consequences of one’s mindset impact
the entirety of a person’s life. As teachers, we play an important role in
instilling a growth mindset in each of our students. We must teach our students
to rise to the challenge of our high expectations, to continuously learn, and
we must reward them for their sustained efforts.

Requiring students to master their learning through redos
and retakes until they meet your high expectations demands far more of the
students than letting them accept a failing grade.

Complaint 2: Students
will take advantage of retakes by not doing their best the first time.

Honestly, this was one of my greatest concerns when I first
began allowing redos and retakes. I was soon assuaged that it wasn’t a problem.
Because the redo/retake required an additional commitment (time and effort),
students never banked on getting to redo it.

Complaint 3: This
isn’t how the real world works.

Really?

Last time I checked, you’re allowed to take driver’s test,
SATs, ACTs, GREs, Bar Exams, and MCATs multiple times. Honestly, it sounds
pretty pompous and petty for any teacher to say, my quiz on Chapter 6 is more
important than any of the aforementioned tests.

Could you imagine how many people wouldn’t have their
driver’s licenses if it was one and done? Confessional:
I wouldn’t—parallel parking got me the first time.

When you enter your doctor’s office, does the diploma and
certification on his/her wall distinguish whether it took him/her 1, 2, or 3
times to pass the MCATs? Of course, not.

I’ve since left the classroom and have entered
administration. I wish I could say that every teacher has met every deadline,
but I can’t. For a variety of reasons—some good and some bad—deadlines are
missed all the time. And this is not unique to academia.

Need other examples?

The publishers who suggest corrections and modifications
before the author resubmits his work reject authors.

Bosses would ask to see/hear a presentation before the young
businessperson presents it to clients.

The apprentice plumber who works side-by-side with a master
plumber who continually provides corrective feedback.

When it comes down to it, pretty much every “real world” job
allows for redos and retakes. The investment capital makes it impossible to
fire an employee for one failure. We must invest in our students by reteaching
and retesting whenever they don’t meet our standards.

Complaint 4: They
won’t have the opportunity to redo work next year in….

They won’t have time
to redo work in college.

Let’s dissect this bit-by-bit. First, I don’t think it’s a
true statement. Although I haven’t stepped foot on a college campus in two
decades, please allow me to share one of my own experiences. One of my most
challenging college classes was US History, Part 1.Everyday, upon entering the class, we were
greeted with a five-question multiple-choice quiz. If we scored below a 4/5, we
were required to write an essay covering the chapter(s) covered by the quiz.
Students were assigned either a passing or failing grade for each chapter. The
professor’s message to me was clear: each student bears the responsibility for
his/her learning. Nothing less than a 4/5 is acceptable. Not only did this
instill in me grit and responsibility, I also learned the material.

As a ninth grade World History teacher, when students
entered my class on the first day of the year, I wanted students who were
proficient in world geography (the 8th grade social studies class).
I could care less, if it took the student one day or the entire year to master
the geography curriculum.

Our high school recently held a roundtable in which we
invited recent graduates to return and speak to students and teachers. A
teacher posed the question about redos and retakes to the college students.
Unanimously, the students voiced their approval of redos and retakes. One
high-achieving student stated, “[The teachers who allowed redos and retakes] set
a high bar; one that challenged us to do our best.”

Another student chimed in, “I felt better prepared for
college because I had to master it [the content].”

These students experienced firsthand the value of redos and
retakes. Through practice, re-teaching, feedback and retakes, these students
mastered the learning and developed a growth mindset. To be adequately prepared
for their next year, whether it’s 1st grade or college, students
need to know the content and the skills.

Complaint 5: It’s not
fair to the students who do well the first time.

The ability to retest should not be limited to low-achieving
students. High-achieving students benefit from retests and retakes. When a
high-achieving student scored a B on a test, he/she was often the first to
sign-up for a retake.

Side note: Knowing
that they have the opportunity to redo/retake a quiz or test, I’m willing to
bet that the high-achievers will be less likely to cheat because they know they
have a second chance.

Anecdotally, only rarely did I have any of my high-achievers
complain about my retest policy—No, it
wasn’t because they didn’t voice their concerns to me. I heard plenty of
complaints about my projects, my lectures, my expectations, etc. Those who did complain most likely were
used to an educational system that distinguished between the elite and
non-elite.

Conclusion

We must move away from the I taughtit; I tested it; Most of the students got it philosophy.
Instead we must ask ourselves, “When
students don’t get it, what do we do?”

8 comments:

This was a refreshing analysis. However, as a fellow Virginia public schools educator, how do you confront/combat the climate of SOL/EOC tests? I am a non EOC test teacher, but I see my students every testing session stress the possibility of not being able to expedite. True, they do get a retake in the form of retaking the class, but they are so focused on getting that verified credit and the passing score. Also, students who make the proficient score can't retake to get advanced.

What I'm trying to convey is how to you get our SOL/EOC/ABCD/FGHJ students to buy in to mastering those standards and not on the actual test score they receive?

Your questions are ones that every SOL teacher struggles with. How do you ensure true and meaningful student learning and not just SOL success? I think each teacher needs to balance the unique needs of his/her students to determine how they approach this.

My personal opinion is that this is less of a redo/retake issue, and more of how do you approach your teaching. For some students, passing the SOL is meaningless, but for others passing the SOL test might represent a great accomplishment. Each student is different. My job as a teacher is to ensure that each student is appropriately challenged and has an opportunity to learn and grow throughout the year. While some might believe that SOLs are a measure of teacher effectiveness (the tests can't/shouldn't be ignored), we must look beyond them and keep our focus on learning and growth.

I've been REQUIRING my elementary students to redo inadequate assignments for about 20 years. Teachers need to get into their kids' heads in order to be effective. What do kids value most? The majority favor having their assignments in the past more than they favor good grades. So the motivation is built in to do quality work if they know that they will have to redo it until they get it right. Most elementary students these days will gladly take a low grade just to know the assignment is done and over with. The focus needs to be on learning, not on completion.

This is so wonderful - I am going to send it to all the principals with whom I work. You explained this so powerfully. This piece will be a tremendous resource.One quick question: I had trouble understanding this sentence:"The publishers who suggest corrections and modifications before the author resubmits his work reject authors."Can you help me out? thank you!

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About Me

I'm an associate principal at Monticello High School in Charlottesville, Virginia. Before moving to Charlottesville, I was an assistant principal at Kettle Run
High School in Nokesville, VA and before that I
taught world history, freshman seminar, individual reading and academic
coaching at Fauquier High School. I also coached girls basketball and
boys lacrosse while at FHS. Additionally, I taught and coached for 6
years at Rappahannock County High School. I also spent 1 year at Cedars
Academy in Bridgeville, Delaware.

I'm a co-moderator of #vachat, a weekly Twitter conversation for
Virginia (and non-Viriginians too) educators. We chat every Monday at 8
ET.

Most importantly, I'm a father and grandfather I have 4
wonderful children and a couple of grandchildren. In my free time, I enjoy outdoor activities, cooking,
reading, sports, and, of course, spending time with family.